Float marker



Nov. 1, 1955 w. v. MUELLER FLOAT MARKER Filed March 26, 195?.

United States Patent This invention relates to a novelmarkingv buoy of the buoyant typehaving an." anchor member attached thereto by a line and reel for marking the location in a body of Water where a valuable article is lost overboard from a boat or for marking desired locations for other purposes such as to designate the location of fish.

More particularly, it isanaim of the invention to i provide a marker of extremely simple construction which may be maintained at all times readily available" for use to be thrown overboard from a boat in the event of the loss of a valuable article overboard, so that the location of the article can be accurately designated to assist in recovering the article by the use of grappling means or otherwise.

Another object of the invention is to provide a buoyant marking buoy and anchor capable of being used in bodies of water where considerable weeds exist and which is provided with novel means to effectively maintain a floating buoy almost directly above the anchor of the marker which is resting on the bottom to thereby most accurately designate a bottom area to be searched or dragged.

A further object of the invention is to provide a floating buoy marker which may be used in bodies of water of various depths and wherein the floating buoy will be maintained at all times nearly directly above the anchor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a float marker having novel means to stop unwinding of a line connecting the floating buoy and anchor when the anchor has reached bottom.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view showing the float marker in a stored position;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view partly in vertical section thereof looking from right to left of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section showing the float marker in an extended, operative position, and

Figure 5 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section of the lower portion of the float marker taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Referring more specificallyto the drawing, the float marker in its entirety is designated generally 6 and includes a buoyant float or buoy 7 and an anchor member, designated generally 8. The anchor member 8 includes a hollow open top casing 9 having a depending projection 10 in the bottom part thereof (Figs. 4 and 5). The lower part of the casing 9 is filled with a heavy weighted material such as lead, as seen at 11 to combine with the casing 9 to form an anchor. A bore 12 extends through the central portion of the weight 11 and through the V ice projection 10 to f'orm a guide for a stem 13 which extends} reciprocally therethrough and which has a disk or head 14 at its upper end, located within the casing 9 and formingareel brake. A reel shaft 15 extends longitudinally through thecasing 9 and is j our nall ed in the end walls 16 thereof. Said reel shaft 1-5 has a squared end 17' disposed outwardly of the casing 9. A reel- 18 is fixed to the shaft 15 and rotatably disposed in the casing 9'. A- line- 19 has one end fixed to the reel 18 and is wound thereon. The opposite end of the line19 is attached to an eye 20,.secured to a dependingprojection 21 of the float 7. The float 7 may be of any suitable construction, preferably being. hollow to define a sealed chamber and preferably being rectangular or square.

The float marker 6 is normally stored in a position readily available for use by means of a holder 22 including a base member 23 which, is preferably secured by means of a fastening 24 to a surface 25 of a boat. The holder 2:2- also includes an upwardly opening receptacle 26' which is secured by fastenings 26a in the lower part of the base 23 and in which the anchor member 8 is normally stored with the line 19'fullywoun'd on the reel 18-. The bottom of the receptacle 26 is provided with anopening 27' through which the depending end of the stem 13 projects when the anchor member 8 is in a stored position. A pair of pull springs 28 are anchored by means of eye-screws or the like 29 at the lower ends thereof to the receptacle 26. The other, free ends of the pull springs 28 detachably engage hooks 30 which are secured to and project from opposite sides of the float or buoy 7 for retaining the buoy in a stored position on the open top of the receptacle 26 and to thus retain the anchor member 8 within said receptacle as clearly illustrated in Figures 1 and 2.

A strap member is secured at its ends to the bottom portion of the base 23, beneath the receptacle 26, and has an offset intermediate portion forming a holder 31 for a crank 32 which has a noncircular opening 33 to fit the reel shaft end 17.

Assuming that a valuable article was accidently dropped overboard from a boat, the springs 28 are quickly disengaged from the hooks 30 and the float marker 8 is quickly dropped overboard as close as possible to the point where the article fell overboard from the boat. The anchor member 8 is sufliciently heavy so that it will sink directly to the bottom while the float 7 remains on the surface. As the anchor member 8 sinks, the reel 18 turns with the shaft 15 to allow the line 19 to be unwound therefrom. As the anchor member 8 approaches the bottom 34, as indicated in Figures 4 and 5, the stem 13 will strike the bottom and be displaced upwardly causing the brake 14 to be displaced upwardly against a portion of the line 19 still wound on the reel 18 to stop rotation of the reel and further unwinding of the line. The depending stem 13 and the depending projection 10 of the anchor member 8 will cause the anchor member to turn over on its side so that sand, mud and other bottom substances can enter the casing 9 through its open top. The side walls 35 of the casing 9 are also provided with openings 36 to admit sand or mud to the casing 9 above and adjacent the weight 11. The sand or mud will provide frictional resistance to rotation of the reel 18 so that in retrieving the anchor member 8 the line will not be further unwound from the reel.

It will thus be seen that the float marker 6 provides a. device capable of being conveniently carried on a boat in a position readily available for use for marking a spot where an article has been lost overboard to assist in recovering the article by grappling means or otherwise or for marking a desirable fishing location. The float marker may be left in position as long as desirable and only a sufficient amount of the line 19 will be unwound from the reel 18 to allow the anchor member 8 to rest on the bottom with the buoy 7 disposed partially above the surface of the water, as indicated at 37 in Figure 4. Thus, the anchor will be almost directly beneath the buoy 7. The anchor member 8 is retrieved by the line 19 which is prevented from being unwound from the reel 18 during the retrieving of the anchor member 8, as previously described. The line 19 may be wound temporarily about the buoy as the anchor member is retrieved. The anchor member 8 is then washed out to clean sand and muck from the casing 9 so that the reel will revolve easily. Preferably after the line 19 has been permitted to dry while wound on the buoy 7, the crank opening 33 is engaged with the reel shaft end 17 and the crank is then employed to turn the reel shaft and reel 18 for rewinding the line 19 on the reel. The anchor member 8 and float 7 are then re-applied to the holder 22 and fastened thereto by the springs 28, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. The float marker 6 may be made in various sizes and the reel 18 may be of sufiicient capacity to hold a considerable amount of line so that the float marker may be used in waters of considerable depth.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A marking buoy comprising a non-buoyant anchor member including an elongated hollow open top casing having a closed bottom, a non-buoyant weight disposed in the bottom portion of the casing, a shaft extending through and journalled in said casing, a reel fixed to said shaft and rotatably mounted in the casing above the weight, a line having one end fixed to and wound on the reel, and a float secured to the opposite end of said line, the bottom portion of said casing being provided with a fixed projection to cause the casing to lie on its side when resting on the bottom so that sand and mud may enter the casing through the open top thereof to provide frictional resistance to rotation of the reel to prevent additional line being payed out therefrom.

2. A marking buoy as in claim 1, said casing having openings disposed above the weight for admitting mud and sand to the interior of the casing when the casing is lying on its side on the bottom to prevent rotation of the reel and paying out of the line therefrom.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,176,196 Bracy Mar. 21, 1916 1,237,492 Elia Aug. 21, 1917 1,314,657 Huber Sept. 2, 1919 1,453,918 Clark May 1, 1923 2,539,412 Faris Jan. 30, 1951 

